Final Weekend Wrap-up at RMTC

When the money was on the line, Lost My Aura found her aura and captured the Rocky Mountain Turf Club Fillies and Mares Stake. The seven furlong run had a purse of $9,200.

"We were worried about the distance, she's never gone that far before," said Cory Wiest, one of the Wiest family with father/trainer Rick, and two brothers, Clayton and Carson.

"Once a horse runs that far, and wins, she'll gain confidence and we can run her back at that distance. It's sure a nice way to finish off the Spring Meet here. Its great going out with a bang like this." Lost My Aura is by Cape Canaveral out of Crystal Halo by Halo and was bred in Alberta by Highfiled SF Ltd. She has now won four of her last races, the previous three, six and five furlong affairs.

Race fans at Northlands Park may recognize the name Lady Melbourne - but then again, they may not.

Lady Melbourne, owned by Brian Weatherill, ran 10 times at Northlands and only won twice.

But Saturday, at Whoop-Up Downs in Lethbridge, the venerable lady won her first outing under the Rocky Mountain Turf Club banner.

Lady Melbourne is a four-year-old filly, and her debut at Lethbridge saw her grab a five and a half furlong run, with Vincent Alvin Palmer aboard.

"They just brought her down here for me to train. I just picked her up really," said trainer Jim Depew. "They were having a few problems up north with her, but she's working well for me.

"She was also leading at Millarville, but when she came around the turn and saw all those people, she slowed right up." Lady Melbourne is by City Zip out of Brighton Belle by High Brite and was bred in Alberta at Reid Racing Stable.

Depew has had good luck at Millarville, winning this year, and in the past, when his Lost Again won a $40,000 race and a week or so later in Lethbridge Lost Again hit a $30,000 purse.

With many horsemen heading to Grande Prairie for the summer meet, Depew is considering only going up for one weekend.

"It's a pretty long haul," he said.

The RMTC closed out its Spring meet with nine races Saturday and another nine Sunday.

Robert Gwilliam closed out his Saturday with back to back wins. His Again And Gone, owned by BD Communications, took the grueling mile and a sixteenth run and the Gwilliam-trained We Taught Ed came in on top in the seven furlong eighth race.

Both horses are Alberta Breds, with Again And Gone from Don Gilkyson and We Taught Ed from Dallas and Tina Shewchuk.

Saturday, RMTC CEO Max Gibb, with his Rocky Mountain Turf Club Stables, took the fifth, five furlong race with his horse - now get this name - Tithing. Tithing is by Real West out of Clearance Light by Cryptoclearance and was bred in Alberta on Gibb's ranch.

"Its always nice to have a winner, but when it's a horse you've bred, its just that much better," said Gibb, celebrating Tithing's second win in three starts.

After two months of racing Sunday's final card seemed to be snake bit. In the third race Jim Depew lost his four-year-old gelding Orovada along the back stretch. A few races later there was a touch of bronc riding in the paddock, shedding his rider into the cement wall around the tress, and then a jockey fell off a few furlongs from the wire and the horse circled the track riderless.

Of course the rider coming of the Depew horse required track medic's attention.

"All three jockeys involved were shaken up and attended to by out ambulance service," said RMTC CEO Max Gibb. "Do you know that all three continued to fill out their rides for the rest of the card. They're brave, tough little buggers and I have nothing but the deepest respect for them.

"I want to wish all the horsemen going north to Grande Prairie for the summer all the luck in the world. I hope Grande Prairie's summer meet is as rewarding as our Spring Meet was here at Lethbridge. We had great crowds, with newer and younger people attending, and we look forward to the return of everyone for the Fall Meet here Aug. 30-Sept. 1 right through to Oct. 10- 13.

BEHIND THE STARTING GATE . . . The final race of the meet left a few fans eagerly awaiting the Fall Meet when the $1 Superfecta, for 4-3-5-1, paid $1,605.50 . . . Imagine if you bought two tickets - it would be just $1 more . . . RMTC Parade Marshal Shirley Clark was pleased to show off her Jockey's saddle cloth, presented to her by Janice Sather . . .The cloth has the big number 6 and the name of the a horse, Keep On Keepin On . . . Janet said to Shirley. "it relates to you, so I wear it with pride," says Shirley . . . the slight breeze was great all Saturday long because it meant NO mosquitoes . . . The Wiest family was in the winner's circle again Saturday, with Time To Be A Hero . . . but so was Lyle Magnuson with Max Gibb's Tithing . . . You know when Tyler Walker wins, he lets out a loud whoop . . . the combination of Walker and Laurie Ferguson paid off again Sunday when Holdjacks won the 400-yard sprint . . . Walker rode a Terri Landaker-trained, Its Up To You, home first in a three-furlong fifth race . . . Walker continued his great day Sunday, riding Pete Dubois Gallant Gabe home in the sixth and Ken Oberholtzer's Bringon The Wain in the seventh race . . . Saturday's ninth race, covering six furlongs was the best race of the day, with Casanova King, trained by Allan Brown, and ridden by Stephen Blakeley, coming in on top in what I call a blanket race - you could throw a blanket over the first five horse . . . the unoffifical trainers standings left Lyle Magnuson with 21 wins and Rick Wiest with 18 and Laurie Ferguson with 12 . . . Leading rider was Larris Allen with 31 victories, Trevor Sampson at 26 and Tyler Walker - with six wins this weekend - with 25 wins.